A Dustmas Story, (Or, Ren gets smooches)
by thisvexesme
Summary: One year after meeting his new friends, Ren hosts a Dustmas party. And a Dustmas race. And gets the one present he hadn't expected but definitely wanted...A kiss


_Chapter 1_

Snow fell lightly outside the second-story window of Ren's apartment in Mistral. It was Dustmas eve, and he was sitting on his couch reading the latest copy of X-Ray and Vav comics, the one where the two heros battled the evil forces of the CorPirate. Soft music played gently from the radio in his tiny kitchen, the green and red glow from the decorated evergreen tree in the corner falling over the room. Ren's parents had rented him the tiny building so he could commute to the Mistral-based operations division of their global tech conglomerate. Ren was ranked as a Junior Shipping Advisor at his parent's company, and currently he managed the imports and exports of Lie Industries-brand televisions into and out of Mistral. But tomorrow was Dustmas, the global holiday celebrating the peace between the Faunus and Humans, achieved after the Great War. So Ren had the night off.

Ren looked up from his comic and glanced around the room, and smiled softly to himself. Back when he lived in Vacuo, he never had celebrated the holiday to the extent he had here, as his family's business needs always had his mother and father away from home. There just wasn't time. But Ren had planned a little party for his friends, whom he had met but one year before. They would arrive soon, bringing presents, snack foods, and warm hugs. Ren stood and walked over to the fridge, cracking it open. He pulled out a can of People Like Grapes soda, and frowned as he discovered it hadn't gotten cold yet. Putting the purple can back into the fridge, he moved around to the cupboards and began to search for his tub of cocoa mix. There was a knock at the door.

"One second!" he called at the grey door, putting the tin of powder down on the counter, brushing of the invisible dirt from his festive Dustmas sweater. When he had reached the door, he quietly composed himself and pulled it open. His black-haired racing partner was standing on the other side of it, wearing a navy blue bomber jacket and fuzzy pink mittens.

"Hey, Ren!" she cheered, flinging her arms around his neck and enveloping him in a snowy hug. "Hey Cindy" he tried to say back, but his mouth was muffled by the coat's poofy sleeves. Cinder's eyes found their way to the top of the door frame, where a small cluster of mistletoe hung from a thumbtack. She pulled off him slightly, arms still around his neck and raised her eyebrow at him, a sneaky smile adoring her face.

"Mistletoe, really?" she questioned deviously "Well, if you insist..." and before Ren had time to respond or even blush, she planted her lips upon his, holding them there for a few seconds before pulling away and pushing past him into the little apartment. Ren stood in his own doorway dumbfounded by the sudden amorous action from the raven-haired driver. _I taste strawberry_ was the only thing his confused brain could muster. "I taste strawberry..." he said, distracted as the girl, who had since shed her coat and mittens dragged him into his own house and shut the door.

"You like?" she teased, winking at him and depositing him in a corduroy easy-chair, before walking over to his fridge. "Ugh, you don't have any alcohol!" she said into the fridge. "I don't drink" came the response from her friend. "I know, I don't either. I just wanted to tease you about how lame you were" Cinder said as she sauntered over to his couch, purple can in hand. Ren took a moment to admire his companion. He had to admit that in the dim evening light, illuminated by the multi-coloured lights, she looked positively gorgeous in her red and green Dustmas sweater and black skinny jeans. He had little time to sit and ogle as there was another knock at the door.

Ren stepped up out of his chair and marched purposefully over to the door. When he opened it, he was greeted by the dark-skinned Emerald and the grey-haired Mercury, both wearing heavy coats and festive hats. "Hey guys, welcome to the party!" Ren said in his soft voice. He leaned in to hug Emerald, but was interrupted by a shout from the living room.

"There's mistletoe, you have to kiss him!" Cinder called from her spot on the couch. Emerald paused for a moment, eyeing the Vacuan boy for a second. _Not so bad, I guess_ she shrugged, and leaned in and gave Ren a quick peck on the cheek before sliding past him. Ren, resigned to this by now, looked Mercury in the eye, and leaned his cheek out to the grey-haired boy. "Don't even think about it" the mechanic shot at him, before hobbling into the apartment on his crutches.

Ren smiled at his friends and strolled into his kitchen, procuring a few mugs from one of his cupboards. Hitting the on switch on his kettle, he spooned out 3 scoops of the brown powder into each mug from the tin. Ren's scroll lit up with a message. It was from a friend from boarding school, a blond-haired boy who once was his roommate. _Merry Dustmas, buddy. Nora and Pyrrha send their love_ followed by a smiley-face. Ren was quick to respond to his friend. _Merry Dustmas to you too, J. Happy New Year as well. Make sure Nora doesn't drink any coffee. You know how she gets._

 _Oops_ was the only reply. Ren laughed silently as there was another knock at the door. Ren put his scroll down on the counter and walked calmly to the door. On the other side stood Neo, pink hair hid beneath a black toque, the letters "RT" embroidered on the front. Ren was about to greet the short girl when Emerald and Cinder shouted "Mistletoe!" in unison from the other room. Neo's eyes widened and she smiled broadly. Ren just sighed and bent down to bring his face near the short girl's. Gently placing her hands on his cheeks, Neo pulled his face forward and softly kissed his nose. Ren let the short girl in and took her jacket and hung it in the tiny closet.

The kettle began to whistle and Ren found his way back to the tiny kitchen, where he poured the boiling water into the mugs and stirred their contents. _What was up with the kisses?_ Ren wondered to himself. He had only put up the mistletoe from a suggestion on the inside cover of a Dustmas-themed cookbook, which said it would "liven up the room". It certainly had.

"What're you making me for dinner, Ren-Ben?" Cinder teased at him. Ren smiled back at her over the top of his reading glasses, and walked over to the group, five cups of cocoa expertly balanced in his delicate hands. Nods of thanks came from his friends as he handed them out before sitting down next to Cinder on the couch. "well, the turkey is in the oven, and it should be done in about an hour and a half. Everything else is already made before you guys showed up." The eyes from his friends all lit up in excitement. Ren was a world-class chef, as he had proved to them time and time again. If anyone could make turkey taste good it was Ren.

"So who's this mysterious 'J' character?" Cinder asked. Somehow she had gotten her hands on Ren's scroll and opened it up to his last few texts. Ren was quick to yank his device from the prying girl.

"An old friend I knew at boarding school. Real solid guy." Ren replied.

"Would I like him?" came the reply.

"Do you like tall, messy blond, muscular athletes with blue eyes?" He asked.

"Almost exclusively"

"Then I think you'd get along famously. Your kids will be beautiful." Ren deadpanned. Cinder laughed at the comment and leaned against him on the couch, tucking herself under his cuddling arm. She looked up at his magenta eyes as he stared back down at her amber ones. Calm smiles fell upon their slowly blushing cheeks.

"Oh. My. _Gawd._ Get a room, you two." Emerald said from her spot on the opposite loveseat, her face a twisted visage of disgust.

"Well seeing as this is _my_ house, technically all of the rooms are mine and I could use each one, should I see fit, Miss Sustrai." Ren responded, winking at her. Emerald shuddered in her seat in response, Mercury nearly keeling over laughing at her. Neo signed something at Ren, who looked at Cinder in response. "She wants to know if you have any books in your tiny house." Ren pointed lazily over at a white bookshelf against the far wall, and Neo sprung up and ran over. The bell timer in the kitchen rang loudly, and Ren begrudgingly unwound Cinder from himself and strolled over.

Ren put a water-filled pot on the stove and turned the heat on high. He prepared two others, one would be for the cranberry sauce, and the other for gravy. His friends weren't fans of turkey gravy, so Ren had gone out of his way to find the last store in Mistral that had the packaged stuff in stock on Dustmas eve. Cinder had joined him in the kitchen, and was currently sitting on one of his chrome bar-stools and watching him work with an eager smile. Ren reached into a drawer and pulled out his "Please Do Nothing To The Cook" apron and let the cheerful raven-haired girl put it on him. Something was telling him that she was going to ignore the humorous apron. A boisterous argument had broken out on the loveseat, the two other racers yelling at each other about the fighting game they were playing.

"Merc, you sack of shit, you're cheating!" Emerald yelled at her legless companion "You can't use power-ups mid-strike!"

"If you were good at the game you might know how" Mercury replied, rubbing Emerald's green hair with one hand.

Cinder turned in her chair and watched the two teens play their silly game and smiled. "Maybe it's you two who need a room to themselves" she chastised affectionately.

"Piss off, mate!" came the reply, and Cinder ducked under the throw pillow that had narrowly avoided her head. Neo had long since become engrossed in one of Ren's tenth-century philosophy textbooks and was ignoring the volitile fray that was occurring not thirty centimetres from her head. Ren left his cooking station and sat down on the couch again, and Cinder plopped herself in his lap. He was quick to push her off, the two of them giggling like children. Ren gave a hearty sigh and gestured to the stack of presents that had collected at the foot of his tree. It was _time._

Ren started with one of the boxes labelled 'Cinder'. She ripped into the gold-coloured paper and pulled out a black hoodie with 'Hunter Racing Division' written on the front. Her eyes lit up and thanked Ren with a smooch on the cheek. The quiet man was growing used to the lip-based affection as he handed a gift to the green-haired girl. Gifts circulated the room and there were smiles all around from the jovial friends. Ren had received a few gift cards, a new philosophy textbook, and very soft silk dress shirt. Cinder had gotten the hoodie, a book titled 'Driving Front-Wheel-Drive: A Beginner's Guide to Circuit Racing', and copy of RaceSim for her X-Station. Emerald was currently wearing the rather expensive summer dress the other four had all pitched in to get her, and Mercury was examining the one-hundred piece socket set he had been given, his eyes glowing as he examined each chrome object. Neo had received a rather expensive gift from her father Roman, so she had insisted that no one get her anything.

"Oh, wait hang on." Mercury said, reaching behind the loveseat and handing Cinder a small, well wrapped box. "This one's a two-parter." Cinder opened the present and glared at the grey-haired boy. It was a die-cast model of a new-model Terminal GT-S, painted in deep purple. It was a tiny replica of the car that nearly run her off the road a few months ago. "Aaaand here's the second part" Mercury said, handing her a brand-new hammer, still in it's cardboard packaging. Cinder's angry expression had suddely turned to one of elation as she realized the implications. _This will be so satisfying_ she thought to herself.

Another timer went off in the kitchen and Ren stood up to go pull the turkey out of the oven. He carved the bird deftly with an over-sized knife and dinner was served. The five of them ate the gravy-soaked beast, chatting lovingly at each other. Dinner was finished quickly, as were the rather small amount of dishes. How Ren managed to cook such a large volume of food without using all the dishes in Mistral, the crew would never know. He had to keep some things secret. They had ended up back in the living room, sleepy from eating. Neo whistled to get their attention, and signed something at Cinder. Her amber eyes perked up at the heterochromatic eyes of the little girl.

"What's she say?" Ren questioned.

"Anyone up for a race?" Cinder replied.

Boots and jackets had never been put on quicker.

 _Chapter 2_

The group of friends stepped out into the snowy street, and moved towards there cars. There was Ren's silver XR, Emerald's borrowed VHI Arrow wagon, Cinder's white Terminal GT-S, and a pink truck. _Hang on, that's new_ everyone thought. Neo stepped forward and beamed brightly, signing something to Cinder. "Holy cow, really?" Neo nodded with excited fervour.

"Ladies and Gentle _man..._ " She spoke, pointing towards the truck. "Neo has gotten her first car." Emerald and Mercury whooped loudly into the crisp night air and hoisted the small girl onto their shoulders and spun her in a few small circles before dropping her back down again. Roman had bought her the little second-hand truck from a friend and had it custom painted to match Neo's particularly unique colour scheme.

Mercury spoke up. "You know you won't win the race right?" Neo turned and smiled at him, before pointing directly at Ren. "You want me to drive your truck?" he asked, placing his hand on his chest. Neo signed something to Cinder, who spoke for the pink-haired girl. "No, she wants you to _win_ with her truck."

Neo drew her keys and placed them in Ren's hand, smiling. Ren shrugged at his friends, and handed the keys to the silver XR to Cinder, who tossed her keys to Emerald. "MINE", the green-haired girl shouted and ran to the driver's side of Cinder's car. "Fuckin eh right, I get to drive this thing!" she called as she climbed into the white coupe's soft cloth interior. Neo sprang to the left side of the car as Emerald fired up the twin-turbo beast. Ren helped Mercury into the passenger side of Neo's truck before climbing in himself and starting the small truck's turbo-diesel engine. "For the guys, buddy!" Mercury cheered as Ren slammed the truck into first and booted the accelerator. The trucks all-season rear tires spun freely on the deep snow as he tried to coax it into forward motion. Cinder had since gotten into the tiny silver coupe and cranked the small three-rotor engine into life, the expensive snow tires easily pulling the lightweight coupe from the snow and off down the road after Emerald and Neo.

"Come on, Renny, show us who's boss!" Mercury cheered from his seat. Ren smiled forward and pushed the transfer-box lever all the way forward, locking the front and rear axles together. The truck surged forward and Ren pulled them alongside Emerald in the white coupe. Mercury looked down and watched Neo stick her tongue out at them. Mercury looked at Ren. "I'm afraid the young lady has insulted us. We must rectify that." Ren responded by popping the gearbox into fourth and pulling past the white car. "Hold on" the quiet man said.

The instant the rear bumper of the little pink truck was clear of Emerald's car, Ren wrenched the wheel to the right and spun fully backwards in the snow. Quickly ramming the gearbox into reverse, the two boys shot back and began taunting the girls behind them. Mercury rolled his window down and pulled his torso through the hole. "We are the champions! Bow down before the king of the winter glenn, peasants!" The grey haired boy yelled at them. Ren pulled the gloating boy back onto his seat and pushed the accelerator down. Both boys could feel the little turbo spool up and begin to haul the pink machine backwards with great force.

Ren flicked the wheel left and pirouetted the truck back straight again, pulling the transfer-box lever back into two-wheel-drive. Then out of nowhere, Cinder was upon them. She had snuck up behind them while they were gloating, and now Ren knew what it was like racing himself. The silver XR taunted him, dogging left and right as if to say _I'm better than you. Move._ The three cars plowed on through the snow, wheels spinning and drivers cheering. A corner approached.

Ren turned the heavy nose of the pink truck in and pulled up on the hand brake. Cinder followed suit, and the two vehicles began drifting. Ren kept his boot in it and the truck's back end nearly came all the way around. Cinder had deftly manoeuvred the silver XR up next to Ren, giving only a few centimetres between the drifting vehicles, the three-rotor engine screaming to well over seven thousand. The two teens were so engrossed in this little battle that they had failed to notice the white monster that was bearing down on them.

The sound of the monstrous turbos under the hood of Emerald's borrowed car sang their windy tune as she pitched the car sideways. The Terminal had two extra driven wheels compared with her own RRS coupe, but this small difference was nothing to the green-haired circuit driving ace. Nearing the end of the long corner, Emerald planted the right pedal down into the floor and the heavy car engaged in a four-wheel drift, all four tires spinning aggressively in the snow. The white monster effortlessly slid past on the outside lane, leaving the two rear-wheel-drive vehicles well behind.

"Not today, other me" Cinder said with a grin, before kicking the gearbox up a gear and moving to pass Ren, the expensive snow tires digging in like they were on dry pavement. When she was right up next to Ren's driver door, she looked up at the boy and winked, before planting her right foot well into the floorboards, gently counter-steering as the silver coupe slipped left and right in the deep snow.

Cinder fought her way through the cloud of white powder that her own car was kicking up in her face. They had made their way to the bottom of the mountain pass that they usually raced on, and Cinder flicked on the XR's headlights, watching them spring up to attention over the sloping bonnet. Just as Ren had seen before, now Cinder knew what it was like to race herself. And now she knew why Ren tried so hard to beat her every time. Because the spoiler perched on the Terminal's trunk lid still had the _'U Mad, Bro?'_ sticker the previous owner had installed, which she had since forgotten about. Her own car was _taunting_ her. Now she had to win, and as much as she hated seeing her Terminal behind someone else, it had just become personal.

She knew the rear-wheel-drive XR would struggle to handle the uphill run it these conditions, but she also was aware that the Terminal's torque computers would be quickly flummoxed by the loose surface, and would eventually start to cut power and shut off the secondary turbo to keep traction. The four-wheel-drive Terminal began to pull away as its superior traction abilities became apparent. The three vehicles zipped past the parking lot they usually hung out in, and drifted around what was normally the final corner.

Cinder pushed Ren's car even harder to catch up to the screaming white machine, the two-litre triple-rotor engine shoving more snow than movement from the rear tires. They had made it roughly half-way up the pass by this time, Emerald leading Cinder, with Ren seriously close behind. The little pink truck had just over half the power of either of the other two cars, but Ren's undeniable skill had kept him near-as-makes-no-difference _welded_ to the rear bumper of his own silver coupe. It was almost suspicious how good he was. He was almost too _perfect._ Quiet, intelligent, well-read, devilishly handsome, and _scary_ good behind the wheel. It just wasn't fair!

Cinder growled at the slightly yellowed headlights of the truck that tailed her, and kicked the clutch, pitching the silver XR around the right-hand corner that led up to The Rise. The white car in front plowed forward, and she could see it buck slightly as its green-haired driver grabbed the next gear. Cinder fired the XR's gearbox up into fourth and lay into the loud pedal. She was approaching the rise with blistering speed. She would be in the air very soon. Cinder braced herself.

The three vehicles rolled lazily over the hump, barely affected by it. Cinder looked around, confused. She had hit the infamous jump going the wrong way, in fourth, at maximum engine speed. She should have taken flight. Cinder glanced down at the instrument cluster and snorted with laughter. The brightly lit speedometer read a mere fifty-eight kilometres per hour, as the slippery surface had let the wheels spin freely in all gears, and the cloud of snow from her own car had masked the visuals of the road and its surroundings. To the three drivers, they were engaged in a heated street race of dangerous proportions. But to any passerby, they were not even exceeding the speed limit.

 _Chapter 3_

"I don't know, man..." Mercury trailed off. "it's just so hard."

Cinder frowned at the boy. "But you like her!"

"Yeah... I wish it was as simple as you say."

Cinder and Mercury sat on the dropped tailgate of Neo's truck, watching their three other friends engaged in a heated snow-ball fight. Ren deftly flipped around and landed two shots squarely in Neo's stomach, which were quickly returned.

"Why are you so afraid? She's just a girl, it's not like you are trying to kiss a Beowolf!" Cinder chastised, gently pushing on Mercury's shoulder.

"I think a Beowolf would be easier to kiss. They don't have feelings. And their teeth are most definitely not as sharp." replied the grey-haired youth. She couldn't help but laugh at this comment. It was indeed true. She sighed gently as she watched Emerald take a face-full of snow.

"Sometimes it's best to be a little bold!" the amber-eyed girl said. Then, as if to demonstrate her point, called out at her racing partner. "Hey Ren, let's go on a date!"

The boy stopped his snow-based warfare for a moment and looked at her, smiling. "Well sure! Doing anything on Tuesday?" Cinder blushed deeply at this similarly bold response and gave the "thumbs-up" sign.

"See what I mean?" Cinder gave the very confused-looking Mercury what she hoped was a confident smile, despite her own fluttering heart. Ren's response had been the one she wanted, but not the one she had expected. Mercury was pondering her words, oblivious to the way she was currently feeling. Cinder, of course, noticed this and quickly turned her own embarrassment against him.

"You are so completely oblivious to a woman's feelings aren't you?" she asked, poking a finger into his chest.

"He reminds me of a friend of mine." Ren had mysteriously appeared sat next to him. Cinder and Mercury nearly jumped out of their respective skins at he sudden appearance. Emerald and Neo had begun rolling a large ball of snow, likely to build a snow-man in the parking lot. Ren gave Mercury a pat on the shoulder. "He never realized how much Pyrrha loved him. No matter how many hints were sent his way. Attractive, yes. Intelligent? No. Much like yourself, Merc."

A quick punch from the legless boy sent Ren falling into the snow behind their bright pink perch, exciting hearty laughter from the raven-haired girl. The snow-based battle resumed and continued until the drenched and exhausted combatants were all sitting on a snow bank, shivering.

"Time for home?" Cinder asked.

"Time for home." Ren replied.

 _Chapter 4_

Neo had fallen asleep on Ren's easy-chair with a textbook layed out on her stomach. Mercury had too fallen asleep on the loveseat, tired from the excitement of the race and the physical exertion of trying to win a snowball fight without any legs. Cinder had curled up on Ren, who was sat on his couch, drinking the last of his cocoa and observing his friends. They reminded him so much of his old team, Cinder was his new Nora, Emerald his new Pyrrha, and Mercury most definitely shared characteristics of his blond-haired best friend. A soft smile fell across his face as he remembered them. Followed by an amused one as he watched Emerald move and cuddle amorously up against Mercury, the two of them remaining asleep. _That will be awkward when they awake. And very funny._ Ren looked down at the long flowing black hair that currently smelled of his shampoo. He could see her smile stilled rested on her face, no doubt dreaming of cars and the driving of. Cinder stirred slightly, hugging him tighter. His lidded eyes briefly roamed over the sleeping girl before drifting gently shut. _This is what love feels like_ were his final waking thoughts before he drifted peacefully asleep.

But his dreams were anything but peaceful.

Ren looked around. A pleasant meadow next to a forest. Two butterflies flapped aimlessly past his face.

"What a lovely day!" the black-haired boy said. He was then aware of a burning sensation. He looked down. _Huh. I'm on fire. Interesting._ Ren's eyes moved back to his surroundings. Now everything was on fire. _Shit._

A clearing appeared in the fire before him and he could barely make out the four dark figures. Ren moved towards them and he could now identify them. They were his friends! Only, something was wrong. Mercury wore a Mistral Military uniform, a forlorn look upon his face and a constantly twitching eye. He looked up at Ren.

"I watched them burn"

The next figure was Emerald, and she looked a few years older. The racing firesuit she wore was badly torched, and her arm was bent badly at an inhuman angle. As was her right leg. She met his eyes.

"I couldn't stop."

Next in line was Cinder. She looked no more than a day older. She cradled a baby with amber eyes and messy blond hair in her arms. She looked up at him. She was crying. Ren tried to step forward but he found himself unable.

"I was scared..."

Last in line was Neo. She looked to be ten years older, her once pink hair had faded back to its original brown. Her usual cheery face wore a serious scowl and a thousand-yard stare. She was wearing a Beacon Academy teaching uniform, and a mechanical brace supported her left leg. Two large knives stuck out of her calf. She spoke, her voice raspy and hoarse.

"Don't...pick...up..."

Ren tried to scream. But there was nothing. Only pain.

Ren awoke with a jump. His heart was still racing. _What a horrible dream_ he thought to himself. What had she meant, 'don't pick up?' The groceries?

Ren's scroll buzzed on the table. Careful not to wake the cuddly girl on his torso, he reached forward and grabbed it. One of his friends was calling. He swiped the little symbol on the screen and brought the polished glass surface to his ear.

"Hello?" he whispered, mildly annoyed.

"Hey bud! How you been?" came the loud and cheerful response. Ren sighed slightly.

"Sun, it's five in the morning, what could you possibly want."

"Oh, nothing. Just to know if you wanted to come to Vale and have a race on the Vale International Raceway!" his voice crescendoing as if to emphasize his point "There's gonna be talent scouts, man! We could get _chosen!"_

Ren frowned. "I appreciate the offer, but I have no need to be in Vale until the end of the school term when the fighting festival is."

"See, that's the best part!" the faunus on the other end almost shouted "The race is going to be like two days before the tournament! Whatever business you have you can do _after_ you get signed by one of the teams! You're gonna get your car and deliver it here. I won't take no for an answer! Plus, I also sorta already called your mom. You'll be taking the train, she said."

Ren sighed _again._ Not that the two-day journey by bullet train wouldn't be fun, he just didn't want to leave his new friends behind to go across the damn planet for one stupid race.

"I know what that sigh means, brother. Your mom assured me that you could bring your team. She's a wonderful woman, and a caring mother." The line was silent for a moment. "You excited yet?"

Ren smiled. "Absolutely. Merry Dustmas, Sun Wukong."


End file.
